Head of heart surgery department of Sharif Medical City Hospital Raiwind Road, Professor Dr Mazhar-ur-Rehman, has conducted a successful operation of a complex and rare heart disease namely "Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy" (HCOM) of a 31-year-old patient Asif Ali.
This is the second operation of its nature in Pakistan after the year 2006. The team of doctors of Sharif Medical City Hospital headed by Professor Mazhar-ur-Rehman conducted this operation free of cost. The project director of Sharif Medical City Hospital Professor Dr Naseeb Awan said here Tuesday that Professor Mazhar-ur-Rehman performed the same surgery of a heart patient in the Sharif Medical City Hospital in early 2006.
About the disease, Professor Mazhar-ur-Rehman said in this disease, a muscle inside the heart becomes thick and large causing obstruction to the flow of blood to human body. This disease is the main cause of sudden death in youngsters, he added. Professor Mazhar-ur-Rehman said that extra muscle of patient Asif Ali was removed to release the obstruction and the patient is recovering fast now.
He said that Sharif Medical City Hospital has become a unique heart surgery centre now. The younger brother of the patient Muhammad Amjad said that he contacted the doctors in Lahore and Karachi for the surgery of his brother but most of the doctors declined to perform the surgery due to risk involved in it. The patient Asif Ali thanked the doctors' team and the administration of Sharif Medical City Hospital for giving him new life.
Dr Adnan, Director of Sharif Medical City Hospital said that the leader of PML-N Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is personally monitoring the affairs of the hospital as patron-in-chief of the hospital. He said that the hospital is well equipped with modern medical equipment for provision of latest health facilities to the patients.
Experts told Business Recorder that hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM or HCOM) is a disease that affects a person's heart muscle, making the muscle more thick and rigid than it should be. "This can decrease the heart's ability to pump sufficient blood to the body and can alter the heart's normal rhythm. HCM is the number one cause of sudden cardiac death in people younger than 30," they said.
According to them, HCM is caused by a genetic abnormality that produces a disorder in the growth of the heart muscle fibres. In some families, HCM is passed on as an "autosomal dominant" trait, which means that if the gene for HCM is inherited from a single parent, the child will have the disease. HCM cannot be cured, but it can be managed. Beta-blockers and calcium blockers can help reduce the "stiffness" in the thickened heart muscle. In some patients, especially those who have significant heart valve dysfunction - surgery to remove portions of the thickened heart muscle is necessary.